Citizen Science

In Part 2 of Wilson Center NOW’s look at the world’s largest coordinated citizen science campaign, Earth Challenge 2020, we discuss the potential of citizen science initiatives with Landon Van Dyke, Senior Advisor at the U.S. Department of State, and Anne Bowser, STIP’s Director of Innovation.

In this edition of Wilson Center NOW, we speak with Kathleen Rogers, President of Earth Day Network, and STIP’s Alison Parker about Earth Challenge 2020, the world’s largest coordinated citizen science campaign. They describe how the campaign will engage millions of global citizens to aggregate and collect more than one billion data points from areas including air quality, water quality, biodiversity, pollution, and human health.

Citizen science and crowdsourcing projects are thriving at every scale, from small, place-based or community efforts, to regional, national, or international projects that span boundaries. For greater impact, projects and initiatives may target a specific scale or work to span multiple scales, such as the national project that recruits local leaders for a place-based initiative, or a small-scale project that expands to new locations.

WASHINGTON DC – April 20, 2018 – In anticipation of the 50th Anniversary of Earth Day in 2020, Earth Day Network, the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, and the U.S. Department of State, through the Eco-Capitals Forum, announce Earth Challenge 2020, a Citizen Science Initiative. This initiative is in collaboration with Connect4Climate -- World Bank Group, Conservation X Labs, Hult Prize, National Council for Science and the Environment (NCSE), Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC), Reset, SciStarter, UN Environment and others to be announced.

The Wilson Center, chartered by Congress as the living memorial to President Woodrow Wilson, is the nation’s key non-partisan policy forum. In tackling global issues through independent research and open dialogue, the Center informs actionable ideas for Congress, the administration, and the broader policy community.